DL tied a career high with 7 blocks in Cal game.
 #18 Ohio State
3-1, 0-0 Big Ten
Roster | Schedule
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November 24, 2009 7:00 PM ET - BTN —— The Schott Columbus, OH |
 Lipscomb
0-3, 0-0 Atlantic Sun
Roster | Schedule
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After splitting a pair in NYC last week, the hoopsters take the floor tonight to start a stretch in which they play 7 of 8 at home and one game against a ranked opponent (at Butler 12/12).
They dropped in both polls this week, falling to 17 in the AP and 18 in the coaches, but they could be near the top 12 when this stretch of games is over and conference play starts.
Even though football is on it's annual December hiatus, expect another quiet crowd tonight, as most of the students have left for the holidays and the quality of opponents won't draw even the casual fan to the Schott. Although, we expect this one to be a track meet and a decent entertainment value.
| # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST | POS | # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Evan Turner | 21.8 | 14.8 | 6.0 | G | 0 | Josh Slater | 18.7 | 8.3 | 6.0 |
| 33 | Jon Diebler | 15.0 | 3.0 | 2.3 | G | 20 | Zach Brown | 1.3 | 1.0 | 2.3 |
| 23 | David Lighty | 11.9 | 3.8 | 3.5 | F | 35 | Brandon Brown | 16.0 | 7.7 | 0.3 |
| 44 | William Buford | 12.3 | 3.0 | 3.0 | F | 23 | Brian Wright | 4.7 | 4.3 | 3.3 |
| 52 | Dallas Lauderdale | 4.7 | 4.7 | 0.0 | C | 34 | Adnan Hodzic | 22.3 | 7.7 | 0.3 |
Opponent
The Braves have lost their first 3 games of the season by an average of 10 points, including a 25 point loss to Vanderbilt. Lipscomb won't pay much attention to the shot clock, scoring 83 points a game, while giving up 93. They come in shooting a respectable 45.7% from the field, but are allowing their opponents to shoot a blistering 54% overall from the floor.
Surprisingly, the Braves are snagging 46 rebounds a game, including almost 17 on the offensive side, while only giving up 36 total boards a game. Lipscomb comes in averaging almost 70 shots a game, so it will be interesting to see if Ohio State can lock them down defensively and force them to use the shot clock.
The Braves will be lead by a trio of scorers, most notably Adnan Hodzic, a 6'9" junior who is hitting 64 percent of his shots, while dumping in almost 23 points a game. If he could hit free throws consistently, his average could creep closer to 26 a game. His sidekick, Josh "AC" Slater, a 6'3" junior guard isn't faring as well from the floor, hitting just 38 percent of his shots thus far, but he likes to drive the ball and initiate contact, attempting 34 FT on the season.
Buckeye Breakdown:
I didn't expect anything more than a split coming back from NYC, that was some good competition and even though this squad has the experience, teams like UNC, with length on the inside, are going to give this team fits. Luckily those types of teams appear on the schedule just a few more times.
In case you missed it, Evan Turner was named the B10 player of the week for the second straight time, after recording his 4th straight double-double to open up the season. The Villian averaged 24.5 points and 12.5 boards last week and has eclipsed the 20 point plateau in the last 3 games. It was the first time since 1980 that a Buckeye had opened the season with 4 straight double-doubles.
The Buckeyes finally got the effort they were expecting from Dallas Lauderdale last game and it might be time to dust off the ol' Swatterdale moniker, after he recorded 7 of them against California. I've said before the Buckeyes only need about 8 points from him per night, which is what he had against Cal, but he needs to be more aggressive on the boards. There is no reason he can't get at least 7-8 a night, as he comes in grabbing a shade under 5 a night.
One of the key's for not only tonight, but also for this stretch of games, is to get William Buford to take better shots. No one is questioning Buford's shooting skills, but at times he takes ill-advised shots and it hurt the Buckeyes in that North Carolina game (see end of the first half). Buford has connected on just 39 percent of his shots (20/52) and has only 8 FT attempts. Getting to the bucket and the FT line is the easiest cure for a low shooting percentage.
Where are you PJ Hill? The senior guard has hit just 2 of 9 shots this year, including 0-6 from behind the arc. As much as I don't like to say it, he will be key once conference play rolls around. ET can't play 40 minutes every night, so Hill has to give him some blows and be productive doing it. His defensive presence is still there, but if he fails to hit the open jumper, teams will once again lay off him and double another scoring threat.
I will be interested to see what type of defense Thad uses tonight. The zone was fairly successful against UNC, but I know he wants to use more man this year. However, if he can't get more production from Madsen and Big Z on the inside, he might be forced to use zone more often, to keep Dallas out of foul trouble. Wonder if we'll see a little 3/4 court trap as well, to try and slow down the Braves and force them to start their offense 75 feet from the basket.
Etc
- This is the first time these 2 teams have met, but OSU is 9-0 against the Atlantic Sun.
- Dave Revsine and Bill Hosket will call the game tonight.
